The United States and Western Europe: Cooperation and
Conflict: Past, Present and Future

The symposium was opened by Professor
Francis Sejersted, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and
by Professor Lundestad. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former foreign
minister of Germany, delivered the opening lecture, "The
transtlantic Partnership."

The symposium's historical analysis of the
relationship between the United States and Western Europe was
based on lectures by Frank Costigliola (University of Rhode
Island), Alan Dobson (University of Wales, Swansea), Klaus
Schwabe (Technical University of Aachen), Jussi Hanhimäki
(London School of Economics) and Pierre Melandi (Sorbonne,
Paris). The analysis of today's situation was based on lectures
by David Calleo (Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.),
Alex Danchev (Keele University) and Werner Link (University of
Cologne). The discussion on possible future developments in the
relationship between the United States and Western Europe began
with a provocative lecture by John J. Mearsheimer (University of
Chicago) and a commentary by Nikolaj Petersen (University of
Århus). Final summarizing commentaries were provided by Alan
Milward (London School of Economics) and Geir Lundestad.

The symposium drew 26 participants from 10
countries. The lectures from the symposium were published by
Macmillan in London during the summer of 1998.

The symposium did not arrive at any
unequivocal conclusions that all participants could agree to. Nor
was this the aim. On the contrary, its aim was to provide a broad
presentation of different views about how the relationship
between the United States and Western Europe looked in the past,
how it looks today and how it may conceivably develop in the
future.

The thrust of the discussion was clear,
however: Whereas until today, historians and political scientists
have focused strongly on the tensions and crises in
trans-Atlantic ties, the time has come to underscore how durable
and deep these ties have been since World War II. Few, if any,
alliances in history can thus show such stability as NATO has
done since its founding in 1949. The Soviet threat was probably
the most important single factor behind NATO's success, but other
important factors included relations with Germany, the need for
an American role in Europe and cultural and economic ties.
Because of these factors, NATO will probablu remain a key
organization despite the disappearance of the Soviet Union.